1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a dentifrice composition, and in particular, to one which contains at least about 25 percent soap and/or detergent which provides ultra-high viscosity (thick) foams that serve as physical scavengers of oral bacteria, food particles, and calculus whereby decay and periodontal disease are controlled and/or reduced.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Today, dentists are increasingly supportive of the belief that the two principal causes of loss of teeth are caries and periodontal disease, caries being the primary cause of tooth loss before age 35 and periodontal disease the primary cause after age 35.
Additionally, there are two special classes of bacteria that are implicated as being the major underlying factors that cause tooth decay:
(a) Lactobacillus acidophilus and other Lactobacilli that produce enamel-destroying lactic acid from sugars; lactic acid being the strongest acid formed by the fermentation of sugars; and,
(b) Streptococci, especially Streptococcus mutans, having a number of properties that make it especially virulent as a promoter of tooth decay. The bacteria produce the enzyme lactic acid dehydrogenase which converts pyruvic acid (a product of the breakdown of sucrose) to lactic acid. In turn, lactic acid demineralizes tooth enamel. It produces more acid than do other Streptococci. These bacteria can survive in a low-pH environment.
In the battle against tooth decay, many antiseptics have been used, such as castor oil soap, detergents (cationic, nonionic, anionic), chlorhexidine, cholesterin, alexidine, and iodine.
More specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 1,484,415 provides the use of 1.5 percent iodine as an antiseptic substance in a dentrifice. U.S. Pat. No. 3,989,813 teaches the use of 1,6-di (p-chlorophenyl diguanidohexane) as an anti-decay agent in a dentifrice, an agent which inhibits the growth of many microorganisms such as Lactobacillus acidophilus odontolyticus. U.S. Pat. No. 4,206,198 discloses a dentifrice containing a cationic antidecay agent plus a nonionic surfactant to promote foaming.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,773,801, less than 5 percent of a foaming detergent based on a derivative of coconut oil is described as one ingredient of many in a dental cream.
Soaps have been used in dentrifices, up to concentrations of about 15 percent maximum.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,379,744 discloses a composition comprising essentially of a combination of chalk, sulfur, common salt, and soap, all conveniently and preferably mixed together in powder form, with the composition containing soap in an amount up to 12.5 percent.
In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 2,027,535 provides the use of up to 5 percent soap.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,633,336 provides a dentifric composition containing many ingredients one of which is castor oil soap in levels of one percent.